Irina Voro
Associate Professor of Piano

At UK since: 1999

Phone number: 859-257-8170
Email: irinavo@uky.edu

Award-winning teacher and performer Irina Voro in recent years has performed in Holland, China, Canada, Costa Rica, the US and her native Russia. Dr. Voro, as she is known to her students, has a precious gift for uncovering the drama of the piece and telling the world something new, touching and wonderful – something the world is subconsciously looking for.

From a very young age Irina Voro has been creating stories about the pieces she plays. It is not surprising then that embarking on a mission to attract new audiences to classical music she debuted at Carnegie Hall with a performance that was called “L’Excital for piano, narrative and imagination” (premiered in 2000.) In this dramatic version of the piano recital Irina preceded great music with her personal poetic narratives, as if inviting listeners to find her stories in the music. Such an unusual combination of words, music and various sound and visual effects was received so well that invitations poured in and by now Dr. Voro has given over a hundred of her “L’Excitals” in 15 states of the United States and four different countries.

In addition to numerous solo and chamber concerts, Irina Voro has performed as a soloist with Tianjin Philharmonic Orchestra (China), L’Orchestre Philharmonique du Grand Montréal and Montreal Chamber Orchestra (Canada), Kislovodsk Symphony Orchestra (Russia) and Lawton Symphony Orchestra (Oklahoma, USA), among others. She records for “Classical Records” label of Moscow, Russia.

When not on stage, Dr. Voro is the Artist/Teacher of piano at the UK School of Music, guiding a bunch of talented students from around Kentucky and around the globe. Among her Doctorate students are graduates of celebrated Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories (Russia), as well as such prominent American schools like Oberlin College and Indiana University. Students of Dr. Voro have won numerous state and national competitions and she is frequently invited to adjudicate in the state, regional and international contests. She is the first UK faculty recipient of the prestigious “Teacher of the Year” Award given by the Kentucky Music Teachers Association.

“Irina Voro is revolutionizing the way classical music is presented to the public.”
- Bob Withers for the Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, WV

“Awesome” and “amazing” were a few of the terms [that the audience] used to describe her highly expressive interpretation of the work of great composers. A fine poet… she can apply as much power or gentleness as needed to express feelings… The space between her notes is not empty.”
- Greta Fields for the Hazard Herald, Hazard, KY

“A unique music personality… The secret of Voro’s formula is that it practically hooks you into thinking along her lines… [Her] images are too salient, too memorable to be easily forgotten… Everything – musicality, technique and a powerful drive – was there!”
- Irina Morozova for the New York Concert Review

“Irina Voro…has made it her mission to bring young people back to piano recitals. (The) pianist tries to rejuvenate recitals with artistic influences.”
- Rich Copley for the Herald-Leader, Lexington, KY

“The concert turned out to be a precious gift from the professor from the University of Kentucky… The very first notes made us aware that at the piano is artist of the highest caliber. Her poignant melodic musings transformed themselves into startling chords, and then the melodic theme dissolved us all within itself… The listeners could only wonder how such a svelte person could emit in her playing so much energy, power and, if you will, sheer might …”
- Nina Kazarian for the Kavkazskaya Zdravnitsa, Russia

“She gives [us] the possibility “to see” the music, to see the sound… Students and teachers could not hold back their genuine exaltation, gratefully erupting in applause and shouts of “bravo!” For almost two hours Irina Vorobieva held the hall in the palm of her hand, nourishing the souls of her listeners.”
- Irina Nemykina for the Zvezda Prikubania, Russia

“Irina sat at the instrument, touched the keys and… there came the sounds of Her Majesty Music… It seemed that technical problems do not exist for this graceful woman: behind the perfection of her passages and leaps of hands one could feel powerful intellectual control. One could sense almost physically the images in the pieces of Rachmaninoff: the universal sadness and the all-pervading joy; the absolute loneliness and, at the same time, the complete self-actualization… Interlacing into one whole all the internal contradictions of the world; approaching everything, and, first of all, her music on the most personal level – this is the major part of the life credo of Irina Voro.”
- Ruben Kazarian for the Nevinnomysski Rabochii, Russia

“The quality of the performance she provided can only be described as breathtaking.”
- Leslie Shockely-Caudill for the Perry County News, KY

“The city teachers, holding their breath, were watching how Professor Voro is giving her master class. Her methods of teaching are truly very effective: after just a few minutes the previously tense girl has relaxed and, smiling, started… The music coming from her fingers sounded very differently!”
- V. Guryaev for the Gorod N-sk, Russia